Yahoo, the domestic first-class ultra-high resolution satellite map releases 60cm

야후 지도 서비스

Yahoo Korea, a 2m-class service, a satellite map of the latest image of the region also announced reorganization. The satellite map in the first grade of a nationwide reorganization of 2m, and throughout the country will be able to easily view high-resolution satellite images. Looking down on the plane throughout the Republic of Korea, as is that I can look at in detail.

Yahoo Korea, along with detailed information of a general map, satellite map, you can look at the video of the ipchegam hybrid map is provided in the portal. In addition to the reorganization of the national level by raising more than 1M region on the map that clearly related to the region was able to get more detailed information.

Meanwhile, Yahoo is gaebanghwa ‘strategy, according to the Yahoo Maps API for free and open. The update is automatically reflected in the open API.

from: 헤럴드경제

Link Here

Do you know what the “Gifticon” is?

  “Gifticon” means “Gift” and “Icon”. “Gifticon” is a new convergence service of SK Telecom, which is the biggest mobile operator in Korea. You can send a real present to your friend using instant messenger (NateOn) and mobile data service (Nate). While you are chatting with your friend on instant messenger, you can send a exchange ticket for a cup of Starbucks coffee to your friend through just clicking a button on the messenger and paying with your credit card. Your friend get a mobile exchange ticket and can exchange a real product in shops including Starbucks, Seveneleven and so on.
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Internet Pundit ‘Minerva’ Arrested Amid Growing Online Censorship and Regulatory Concerns

This arrest illustrates some of the serious repercussions that growing online censorship and gov’t regulatory changes have and will continue to bring about in South Korea.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office has sought an arrest warrant for a 30-year-old man identified as Park, who confessed of being the real person behind famed Internet pundit, “Minerva,’’ on charges of spreading “groundless’’ allegations about the country’s ailing economy.

Law enforcement officers are eager to punish Park, who they’ve searched for months, claiming that he deliberately created confusion in financial markets by distorting facts.

However, critics argue that Park’s detainment is the latest example of the government’s inability to handle online criticism properly, with authorities going overboard in efforts to abate the rabble in cyberspace.

Korea Times

Top Korean search requests in 2008

Paran, Yahoo Korea and other Korean portals shared their top ten rankings for the most searched phrases and keywords in 2008. This year saw the financial crisis, celebrity suicides and the Beijing Olympics as some of the more popular searches for Korean Internet users.

 

More detailed results from each portal are available below:

Daum official blog (Korean)

Google Korea had their results included in the Google Zeitgeist 2008 roundup.

Naver’s search blog (Korean)

Yahoo Korea’s search blog (Korean)

Link HERE

Cyworld pulling plugs from US

Cyworld is finally pulling plugs from the US market. (Link in Korean.) Cyworld US launched in August 2006 – I still remember Wired print magazine doing a major coverage saying something like, “Myspace is doomed now.” It now turns out that the prediction was widely off the mark. 

Cause of failure? Well, for starters (the obvious ones): Cyworld didn’t seem to have sharp strategies as to how to position their service (Was it Myspace or Habbo hotel?); They didn’t localize the service very well; SK Telecom, the parent company, didn’t “get it” yet still tried to put a grip on the business. 

Thanks to Web 2.0 Asia Complete Post Here

Search Engines to Separate Advertising, Legitimate Results

Internet portal sites will be required to identify advertising links separately from information links on search engine results pages so as not to confuse consumers. The regulation is to come in a revision of the Act on Promotion of Utilization of Information and Communication Network and Data Protection announced by the Korea Communications Commission on Thursday. Violators will be punished by a fine of up to W10 million (US$=W1,406).

Currently, portal site Naver marks advertisements as “sponsored links” or “power links” when it display them on search engine results pages. However, once the revised bill takes effect, they should be marked “advertisements.”

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KOREA: UCC looms as national priority

Homemade video footage, dubbed user created content (UCC), now involves more than just your average amateur maker. In Korea, the government has stepped up to boost the popular audio-visual clips.

The Ministry of Information and Communication on Monday said it will come up with a package of policies by March geared toward encouraging the quality of UCC.

“Even though many Web users generate UCC on their own, the quality is still in the embryonic stage with most of them infringing on copyrighted files,” Assistant Minister Yang Jun-cheol said.

“We think UCC has exponential potential for venture start-ups, which can promote their products and companies through user-generated content. We will help companies employ UCC for their business,” Yang said.

As a plan of action, the Information Ministry is poised to create an award to recognize the most outstanding UCC producers, known as proteurs in Korea, a combination of professional and amateur.

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Portals celebrate Hangul Day with new fonts

Korean portals Daum and Naver marked this year’s Hangul Day by releasing a set of free fonts:

 

Naver, the country’s most-visited search engine, said yesterday in a release that it will distribute free Hangul-based fonts, which the company developed over the past 12 months by investing 500 million won ($362,450).

Two types of fonts are available at
http://hangeul.naver.com
.

“We’ve realized Hangul content is circulated the most over the Internet, so we decided to shed light on Hangul’s beauty, and I guess that’s what made other Web sites go for Hangul marketing,” said Noh Su-jin, a manager at NHN, which operates Naver

While most major websites including Google Korea celebrated by including Korean characters in their logos.

Link

Google Korea to Verify the Age for Adult Queries

Google intends to comply to the local law from Korea and ask users to confirm they’re at least 19 if they use one of the 700 adult queries defined by the Korean government. Google’s reason is that every other search engine and portal that operates in Korea does that. You can see what happens if you search for “sex” in Yahoo Korea. To verify your age, you need to enter your name and your national resident registration number, an unique identifier.

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Fallout for Korean portals after protests

With the use of Daum’s message boards during recent protests, Korean lawmakers were quick to react in attempts to assert more control over the portals.

First, Rep. Kim Young-Sun from the ruling Grand National Party proposed using existing regulations for newspapers to try to classify portals as a similar media service: